Forming the attractiveness of ecotourism territories and self-employment of the population in Dnipropetrovska oblast

Abstract

The paper establishes that the accelerated development of ecological tourism can play the role of a catalyst for the restructuring of the regional economy, ensure demographic stability, and solve the socio-economic problems of the regions. The 2027 Dnipropetrovska Oblast Regional Development Strategy is considered and analyzed in detail. The results of the socio-economic analysis indicate that there are problems in the region related to the development of tourism that cannot be solved by means of only territorial or sectoral management. It requires regional program support and an integrated approach, coordination of activities with other sectoral departments of local executive authorities and local governments as well as cross-sectoral coordination. The development of ecological tourism is determined to be a promising vector of increasing the attractiveness of regional territories and self-employment of the population of Dnipropetrovska oblast, which will reduce the dependence of administrative-territorial units on the economic state of large city-forming enterprises and asymmetry in the development between the territories of the region. The dynamics of the tourist flow in Dnipropetrovska oblast shows that the market of domestic tourists grew by 147.8% and the market of outbound tourists - by 175% in 2019 compared to 2014. The paper suggests introducing a tax on the functioning of ecotourism infrastructure as a way of self-financing the territories. It will allow attracting funds to the industry, creating a system for the protection of natural and recreational complexes, and improving infrastructural development and tourist attractiveness of territories. Particularly favorable conditions for the development of ecological tourism are created in the territories of national and landscape parks in the region. Increasing the level of employment is one of the priority tasks faced by Dnipropetrovska oblast in order to implement a range of sustainable development tasks. The main ways of further development of ecological tourism on the territory of Dnipropetrovska oblast are determined.